Bobby Macias didn’t know where Cal State San Marcos was. Neither did his teammate De’End Parker.

It’s not a destination young athletes aspire toward or a place blue-chip recruits end up.

But here’s some advice for those still in the dark as to the campus’ location: Look at a map.

The school’s basketball team just put it there.

The NAIA released its latest coaches’ poll Tuesday and it had CSUSM No. 1. It was the first time the men’s basketball team has ever topped the national rankings.

But pointing that out is kind of like noting how a Funny Car finally crossed the finish line. The basketball team, after all, is only in its third year.

“Not too many coaches get to say they were the first coach of a college basketball program anymore,” said Cougars coach Jim Saia. “That’s something people did in 1909, not 2010.”

OK, so we got the when out of the way – but the who, what, where and why are what make this story sing. CSUSM will never have the widespread appeal that San Diego State does, but given the program’s backdrop and characters – think of it more like an HBO Original.

For instance, did you know that the Cougars (23-1) practice at a local recreation center? Corky Smith Gym to be specific. It’s great as far as community gymnasiums go – 10-foot-rims, multiple courts, floors you don’t slip-n-slide on, etc. The only real quirk is that the Cougars’ practice schedule revolves around local leagues, so sometimes the ever-animated Saia will roar at one his players and cause the 8-year-old one court over to air ball his layup.

As a U-T copy editor put it Tuesday: “Just the way Duke does it.”

Yeah. You could also say that a CSUSM home game bears a strong resemblance to the atmosphere of Cameron Indoor Stadium. If you were visiting Cameron Indoor Stadium at 3 a.m., that is.

The Cougars don’t have their own facility. They play their home games at MiraCosta College and typically draw a DMV-waiting-room-size crowd.

You might think that this would be discouraging to a group now perched solo atop the NAIA. It’s not. Most of them are just happy to be playing in front of anyone.

If there was ever a Breakfast Club of college basketball, it is the CSUSM Cougars. Some suffered Division I injuries, some were booted from their former teams’ rosters – even Saia served as a UCLA assistant and USC interim head coach before winding up in North County.

At first glance, it looks like a mishmash of bounce-backs and rejects that could never find the synchronicity to win at this level. But like a Picasso, if you look closer, you’ll see that it’s something beautiful.

“The one thing that we all had in common was that we weren’t sure where our careers were going,” said Macias. “Now we see that we have a chance to do something special.”

There’s actually one other thing these guys have in common – they all can freakin’ play. Most players noticed this during the team’s first open-gym run in September. Guys could drive. Guys could shoot. Guys could dunk.